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High demand for Calgary condo project

Tribeca half sold after VIP sales event

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald

CALGARY — Here’s another sign of the rejuvenation of Calgary’s new residential condominium market.

Bucci Living sold half of the units at Tribeca, a low-rise condominium development in the southwest Mission neighborhoods, on its first day of sales and before the development has officially launched to the public, after receiving twice the target number of expected registrants for a recent VIP pre-sale event. The company said the “huge” interest in the development is because of the location in the popular Mission area.

“Tribeca is the first of a number of new condo projects set to launch in Calgary in 2012, an indicator that the condo market is at the start of a growth cycle,” it said. Tribeca is a four-storey wood frame building, with 82 condos. The development offers a variety of living spaces including one-bedroom, one-bedroom plus den, two-bedroom, two-bedroom plus den and three-bedroom condominiums, ranging in size from 537 square feet to 1,064 square feet. Prices range from $225,000 to $520,000. “We knew that Tribeca’s affordable prices and great location would appeal to buyers, but demand has more than exceeded our expectations,” said Mike Bucci, vice-vice-president Bucci. “The Calgary market is on the rise right now and Tribeca is a great example of that growth.”

Tribeca will officially launch to the public on Saturday at noon. The Sales Centre is located at 1905 4th St. S.W. Calvin Buss, president of Buss Marketing which works with many city condo projects, said there will be 14 residential condo towers under construction this year in Calgary inner-city neighborhoods’. According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., apartment starts in the Calgary census metropolitan area amounted to 2,106 units in 2011, up 56 per cent from the 1,349 started in 2010.

“New construction in the condo market has been subdued in the last couple of years as builders were working through elevated inventories,” said Richard Cho, senior market analyst in Calgary for the CMHC. “Towards the end of the 2011, however, we started to see a shift in activity with more condominium projects breaking ground and this is expected to continue in 2012.

“Condominium units appeal to many young buyers as well as homeowners who are looking to downsize. Many of the new projects that are proposed or have started construction are in vibrant areas and close to many amenities. Not only has demand improved, but the supply of new condominium units on the market has also declined paving the way for more condominium projects.”